Redistribution and Risk in Contracting Out Government Services. Governments across Australia spend billions of dollars per year on contracting out of their services, yet there is very knowledge of the costs and benefits of contracting out. The existing research on contracting out tends to focus narrowly on issues such as cost. This research will examine a much broader range of consequences associated with contracting out including changes in the distribution of resources, changes in political ....Redistribution and Risk in Contracting Out Government Services. Governments across Australia spend billions of dollars per year on contracting out of their services, yet there is very knowledge of the costs and benefits of contracting out. The existing research on contracting out tends to focus narrowly on issues such as cost. This research will examine a much broader range of consequences associated with contracting out including changes in the distribution of resources, changes in political power between groups and changes in the nature of service delivery. The research will have three outcomes: testing of a systematic framework for evaluating contracting out, new knowledge on the impacts of contracting out across a wider range of outcomes, and an analysis of the distributive relationships associated with contracting out.Read moreRead less
Investigating the Impact of Work Design on Productive Wellbeing in Mercy Health: The Modernising Third Sector. Around the world the Third Sector (TS) of the economy is coming under pressure to modernise their management. The typical approaches to modern management being imposed overseas may not be appropriate for TS organisations and therefore they need to be critically examined, especially for their impact on employees. In Australia the TS is a large (approx. $15billion), yet low-profile set of ....Investigating the Impact of Work Design on Productive Wellbeing in Mercy Health: The Modernising Third Sector. Around the world the Third Sector (TS) of the economy is coming under pressure to modernise their management. The typical approaches to modern management being imposed overseas may not be appropriate for TS organisations and therefore they need to be critically examined, especially for their impact on employees. In Australia the TS is a large (approx. $15billion), yet low-profile set of organisations, of which the health industry is central. This project will investigate the issues that make workplaces in a TS health organisation a healthier and more productive place to work. The results could directly help improve workplaces covering more than 150,000 employees.Read moreRead less
Pathways or cul-de-sacs: the causes, impact and implications of part-time senior secondary study. The research will investigate the factors contributing to the relatively high proportion of SA students who undertake their senior secondary studies part-time, and explore the implications for the students and their communities in terms of educational and employment outcomes. It will also map the geographic, gender and socio-economic dimensions of this phenomenon and identify whether there is a rela ....Pathways or cul-de-sacs: the causes, impact and implications of part-time senior secondary study. The research will investigate the factors contributing to the relatively high proportion of SA students who undertake their senior secondary studies part-time, and explore the implications for the students and their communities in terms of educational and employment outcomes. It will also map the geographic, gender and socio-economic dimensions of this phenomenon and identify whether there is a relationship between part-time senior secondary study, early school leaving and re-entry pathways. The project will draw on recent state and national research, and educational policy analyses, together with qualitative and quantitative data analysis at the state and regional level, to enhance understandings of these issues and inform the development of educational and youth policy at the state and national levels.Read moreRead less
New Police Management - From Command and Control to Collaborative Governance: An assessment of organisational change at Victoria Police. Changes in governance will be assessed and refined in order to assist Victoria Police to become more proactive and collaborative in achieving its strategic aims of intelligent, confident, community and partnership policing and thereby to make a difference to community safety over the next five years. Proactive collaboration at all levels will help Victoria Po ....New Police Management - From Command and Control to Collaborative Governance: An assessment of organisational change at Victoria Police. Changes in governance will be assessed and refined in order to assist Victoria Police to become more proactive and collaborative in achieving its strategic aims of intelligent, confident, community and partnership policing and thereby to make a difference to community safety over the next five years. Proactive collaboration at all levels will help Victoria Police to protect communities from terrorism and crime in contemporary conditions and will assist in the safeguarding of Australia. More generally, the results of the project will assist the accumulation of research-based evidence to inform policy making based on the claimed benefits of decentralisation in police forces around the world.Read moreRead less
From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance re ....From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance requirements against the desire to help clients. The project aims to create a new framework for understanding how policy instruments and design experiments can improve services for those who are in need.Read moreRead less
The new digital governance of welfare to work. This project aims to analyse the implementation of a 'digital first' employment services system, its effects on frontline services and governance, and its potential for policy learning. It expects to generate new knowledge on how digitalisation changes interactions between jobseekers, providers, employers and the government, by working with our industry partners in a collaborative innovation lab. Expected outcomes of this project include a theoretic ....The new digital governance of welfare to work. This project aims to analyse the implementation of a 'digital first' employment services system, its effects on frontline services and governance, and its potential for policy learning. It expects to generate new knowledge on how digitalisation changes interactions between jobseekers, providers, employers and the government, by working with our industry partners in a collaborative innovation lab. Expected outcomes of this project include a theoretically informed, and practically tested, model of how digitalisation can promote service design and policy innovation that benefits jobseekers and employers. This should provide significant benefits for welfare system design, service outcomes, and policy learning nationally and internationally. Read moreRead less
Exploding the Myth of Change Resistance in Public Service Organisations: New Models of the Determinants of Successful Organisational Transformation. Large scale organisational change is costly as 80% of change efforts fail due to institutional stability, organisational resistance and cultural inflexibility. In the public sector change resistance has become particularly problematic as governments have demanded radical and rapid structural and cultural changes within public organisations. This pro ....Exploding the Myth of Change Resistance in Public Service Organisations: New Models of the Determinants of Successful Organisational Transformation. Large scale organisational change is costly as 80% of change efforts fail due to institutional stability, organisational resistance and cultural inflexibility. In the public sector change resistance has become particularly problematic as governments have demanded radical and rapid structural and cultural changes within public organisations. This project will develop models of change to extend theory and practice regarding the institutional, organisational and cultural environment necessary for public organisations to undergo large scale change and thus assist public organisations in facilitating successful large-scale change. An innovative approach is used to incorporate geographically dispersed, multi-functional and stratified workforces.Read moreRead less
The Contractualisation of Government: Public Accountability and Performance. Contracting has changed the delivery of government services and infrastructure in Australia. This project examines how such 'contractualisation' has affected accountability at the federal level and how current practices may be improved. Four key research questions are addressed. First, what changes, if any, in public accountability were expected from contractualisation? Second, through an analysis of case studies, ho ....The Contractualisation of Government: Public Accountability and Performance. Contracting has changed the delivery of government services and infrastructure in Australia. This project examines how such 'contractualisation' has affected accountability at the federal level and how current practices may be improved. Four key research questions are addressed. First, what changes, if any, in public accountability were expected from contractualisation? Second, through an analysis of case studies, how have public accountability practices altered in reality? Third, how might public accountability be strengthened whilst maintaining the benefits of contractualism? Fourth, what kind of performance information would assist Auditors General to strengthen their role in supporting public accountability and good governance?Read moreRead less
Whole of Government: Evaluating frameworks for integrating policy development, implementation and delivery of public services. The Australian Government is committed to whole of government approaches to policy, implementation and service delivery. This research will help make whole of government work better, by analysing its fundamentals and providing guidance on best practice. It links five key government agencies, coordinating departments and those at the front line of service delivery. Case s ....Whole of Government: Evaluating frameworks for integrating policy development, implementation and delivery of public services. The Australian Government is committed to whole of government approaches to policy, implementation and service delivery. This research will help make whole of government work better, by analysing its fundamentals and providing guidance on best practice. It links five key government agencies, coordinating departments and those at the front line of service delivery. Case studies include national security, avian flu and indigenous policy coordination. The project will build ongoing collaboration between academic researchers and public servants. It will develop practical guidelines to assist government organisations better serve clients and solve complex policy challenges.Read moreRead less
Managing risk in community services. A preliminary study of the impacts of risk management on Victorian services and clients. Most older people and those with a disability or a mental illness now live in the community. They receive help from a vast range of community services, which are also expected to keep them safe, and their workers and the wider community safe. Risk management is now an important part of the work of all services and businesses involved in community care. This project will s ....Managing risk in community services. A preliminary study of the impacts of risk management on Victorian services and clients. Most older people and those with a disability or a mental illness now live in the community. They receive help from a vast range of community services, which are also expected to keep them safe, and their workers and the wider community safe. Risk management is now an important part of the work of all services and businesses involved in community care. This project will study the unforeseen impacts and costs of the new risk management, identify the problems, and explore the ways risk management can achieve its goals without reducing services and limiting the lives of the clients.Read moreRead less